Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

A Gross Is Twelve Dozen

5th grade nonfiction passage about dozens, grosses and the number twelve: 211 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction dozens, grosses and the number twelve 211 words

A Gross Is Twelve Dozen

Most people know that a dozen means twelve. Eggs come in dozens, and so do many donuts. But there is a bigger unit that is not as well known. A gross is twelve dozen, which means 12 times 12, or 144. For a long time, shops sold small things like pencils and buttons by the gross, because it was easy to count them in boxes of twelve.

There is an even larger name, too. A great gross is twelve gross, which is 12 times 144, or 1,728. Almost nobody needs that many buttons, but the name shows how a counting system built on twelve can keep stacking up.

Why did people like twelve so much? The answer is in how easily it splits. You can divide twelve into two equal groups of 6, three groups of 4, four groups of 3, or six groups of 2. Ten can be split evenly only by 2 and 5. Twelve gives you more choices, which is handy when you share things or sell them in parts. Half a dozen is 6, a third of a dozen is 4, and a quarter of a dozen is 3.

Twelve shows up in other places, too. A foot has 12 inches, a year has 12 months, and the face of a clock shows 12 hours. People have found twelve useful for a very long time.

Questions

  1. How many items are in a dozen? in the text

  2. How many items are in a gross? in the text

  3. What is a great gross? in the text

  4. What is a third of a dozen? in the text

  5. Why do people like the number twelve for counting and selling? think about it

  6. Why might a shop have sold pencils by the gross? think about it

Words to know

dozen
a group of twelve
gross
a group of 144 things, or twelve dozen
unit
a set amount used for counting or measuring
equal
the same in size or amount
Share

One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 197 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8

Most people know that a dozen means twelve. Eggs come in dozens. So do many donuts. But there is a bigger unit that fewer people know. A gross is twelve dozen. That means 12 times 12, or 144. For a long time, shops sold small things like pencils and buttons by the gross. They were easy to count in boxes of twelve.

There is an even larger name. A great gross is twelve gross. That is 12 times 144, or 1,728. Almost nobody needs that many buttons. But the name shows how a way of counting built on twelve can keep stacking up.

Why did people like twelve so much? It splits so easily. You can split twelve into two groups of 6. You can make three groups of 4, four groups of 3, or six groups of 2. Ten splits evenly only by 2 and 5. Twelve gives you more choices. That is handy when you share or sell things in parts. Half a dozen is 6. A third of a dozen is 4. A quarter of a dozen is 3.

Twelve shows up in other places, too. A foot has 12 inches. A year has 12 months. A clock face shows 12 hours. People have found twelve useful for a very long time.

▲ This passage · 211 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.9

Most people know that a dozen means twelve. Eggs come in dozens, and so do many donuts. But there is a bigger unit that is not as well known. A gross is twelve dozen, which means 12 times 12, or 144. For a long time, shops sold small things like pencils and buttons by the gross, because it was easy to count them in boxes of twelve.

There is an even larger name, too. A great gross is twelve gross, which is 12 times 144, or 1,728. Almost nobody needs that many buttons, but the name shows how a counting system built on twelve can keep stacking up.

Why did people like twelve so much? The answer is in how easily it splits. You can divide twelve into two equal groups of 6, three groups of 4, four groups of 3, or six groups of 2. Ten can be split evenly only by 2 and 5. Twelve gives you more choices, which is handy when you share things or sell them in parts. Half a dozen is 6, a third of a dozen is 4, and a quarter of a dozen is 3.

Twelve shows up in other places, too. A foot has 12 inches, a year has 12 months, and the face of a clock shows 12 hours. People have found twelve useful for a very long time.

■ Harder · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Most people are aware that a dozen means twelve. Eggs are packaged in dozens, and so are many donuts. There is, however, a larger unit that is considerably less familiar. A gross is twelve dozen, which means 12 times 12, or 144. For a long time, shops sold small items such as pencils and buttons by the gross, since it was convenient to count them in boxes of twelve.

There is an even grander name as well. A great gross is twelve gross, which comes to 12 times 144, or 1,728. Hardly anyone needs that many buttons, yet the name demonstrates how a counting system built on twelve can keep stacking upward.

Why were people so fond of twelve? The explanation lies in how easily it divides. You can separate twelve into two equal groups of 6, three groups of 4, four groups of 3, or six groups of 2. Ten, by contrast, divides evenly only by 2 and 5. Twelve offers more choices, which is especially handy when you share things or sell them in portions. Half a dozen is 6, a third of a dozen is 4, and a quarter of a dozen is 3.

Twelve appears in many other places, too. A foot contains 12 inches, a year contains 12 months, and the face of a clock displays 12 hours. People have found twelve valuable for a very long time.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put dozen, gross, unit and equal on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "A Gross Is Twelve Dozen"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 211 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.9. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.